Lunar Sister
by RandyPandy
Summary: Eirin tries to discover what truly happened to the one she knew many years ago, as Remelia tries to solve the mystery of her maidservant's past. And several other characters get caught up in it. -Post-UFO- -CURRENTLY NO PLANS TO FINISH-
1. Chapter 1: Eirin

Disclaimer: I do not own Touhou Project and all characters in this fanfic.

* * *

Nearly 400 years had bone by since Eirin had last seen her... though by Lunarian standards that wasn't normally a very long time, to Eirin, it felt like an eternity had passed.

She sat in her shop at Eientei, staring at the medicine she was preparing but not really seeing them. Kaguya and Reisen were alright; they would probably be left alone by the emissaries at the moon, and were being watched over by Tewi for the time being. But for once, she was not worrying about the Lunar Princess and the Moon Rabbit.

"Matoki..." After seeing _her_. Eirin could not stop thinking about her older sister, the one that had vanished 400 years ago.

* * *

"Matoki!" Eirin stood up, joy in her grey eyes at seeing the other. She moved forward, embracing her older sister. "Are you hunting more demons?" Eirin looked concerned.

Matoki held her. "Of course. You know that the Lunar World and Gensokyo aren't safe unless the demons have been taken out."

The younger Lunarian sighed, letting go of Matoki. "Which ones, this time?"

Matoki looked determined, pulling out one silver knife. "Recently, there have been Vampires. They have moved into the mansion across the lake."

"Vampires?" Eirin stared at her. "Are you foolish? You have never taken down a vampire before!"

"Everything will be okay, Eirin!" Matoki smiled back, fingering her knife. "These vampires are mere children. They cannot be that powerful."

"Please... please, just come back, sister," Eirin said, looking at the knife of silver, much like the silver of her bow and arrows. "I know you are powerful, with your manipulation of time and space, but... I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Trust me, Eirin," Matoki said, heading towards the door. "You will see me again, once I finish up."

Matoki never came back.

* * *

Eirin Yagokoro smiled, hearing the noises of different people following her as she led them away from where Princess Kaguya was hiding. Tewi and Reisen may have failed, but she had given Eirin enough time to hide the princess before the others caught up to her.

Once Eirin had led the group far, far away from Kaguya, she turned around - oh dear. She had distinctly remembered seeing a total of eight people, half of them being distracted by Tewi and the other half by Reisen. Hopefully, the other four hadn't found Kaguya... She hadn't studied the people, but she took a good look at them now. Two humans, a Youkai, and a Vampire.

She studied the Youkai first, a young-looking blond-haired girl in a blue and white dress and brown boots. Eirin had never seen her before, but the girl seemed to have the powers of controlling puppets and dolls. An interesting one, teaming up with humans.

The Vampire was studied next. This Vampire looked rather young, only about the age of a ten-year-old human, but she had a sense of age around her, though of course, not nearly as old as her. She had blue hair, and a pink-dress that seemed to have been... stained?

The Human sitting at the broomstick seemed to just be an ordinary teenaged human with a large amount of magical power. A witch, most likely. She had blond-hair, like the Youkai, and was wearing a traditional witch outfit.

After studying the three of them, she turned to the fourth member, the second Human that was standing closer to the Vampire than anyone else, and...

Eirin nearly stuttered in what she was saying. The girl had silvery-white hair and grey eyes just like Eirin, and was fingering some familiar silver knives as if ready to throw them.

_Matoki?_

_

* * *

_

But could it be...? That girl, standing with the other three, looked nearly identical to her sister... and during battle, had proven to have the same time-space manipulation abilities that Matoki had... However, the others called her Sakuya, and Sakuya was well-known to be the maid for a pair of Vampires in the Scarlet Devil Mansion...

Could it really have been her sister? If it was Matoki, though, then why would she be dressed in a maid's outfit, accompanied by a Human, a Youkai, and a _Vampire_ of all creatures? How did... how did Matoki Yagokoro end up becoming Sakuya Izayoi, the maid to Vampires...?

Sakuya didn't say anything that sounded familiar, but there had been a bit of a puzzled look in her eyes as she looked at Eirin. The only solution that Eirin could draw was that Matoki had been injured and lost her memory either before or during the hunt, and had been taken in by the Vampire Remilia Scarlet as a maid. Her sister had been very powerful, after all, even for a Lunarian...

"Matoki... I will find out what happened to you." She needed to find out. She needed to figure out whether Sakuya Izayoi was her older sister, Matoki Yagokoro. Kaguya and Reisen were doing find on their own, and had Tewi and her rabbits with them. They would be alright. Eirin had plenty of time to spare, and she would take all the time that it took.

Even if it took another 400 years.

* * *

"Ma" and "Toki" are both Japanese words that mean "time", which is what I used for Sakuya's "real name". Both Sakuya and Eirin seem to have known each other canonly, though their relationship is never stated. I noticed that Eirin and Sakuya both have the same hair and eye color, and debated whether they were related or not. Eirin is confirmed to be Lunarian. Sakuya is suggested to be Human, though are several pieces of evidence to show that she is not (such as her being able to stare at the true full moon in Imperishable Night without going insane. Even Remilia was concerned about Sakuya going insane from watching it).


	2. Chapter 2: Remilia

If there was one thing that Remilia Scarlet hated more than anything, it was rain. She had an excuse, though. Water was capable of killing her.

That was why, at 10:00 pm, the 508-year-old Vampire was still awake, frowning at the windows that had been covered by the drapes. Sakuya had done an excellent job completely obscuring the rain from her view, but that didn't mean that she couldn't still _hear_ the thunder and lightning.

Recently, Remilia had adopted a habit of sleeping for a part of the day and part of the night, becoming active in the hours that she didn't sleep. She often slept from 6:00 pm to 2:00 am, adjusting the time depending on what went on. She didn't _need_ much sleep, of course, but one never knew when shrine maidens or book-thieving witches would come into their house and prevent them from getting sleep.

Another clap of thunder boomed and lightning flashed through the windows as the storm went on, and Remilia actually whimpered. Just because she was 508 years old, and wise beyond her years didn't mean that she didn't still think like a ten-year-old. Her sister Flandre would be fine. Flandre, after all, lit things up and made things explode on a regular basis if given the chance.

Upon hearing some footsteps, Remilia turned towards the door, hearing a familiar voice humming. Her maid, Sakuya, was still awake, and from the sound of things, heading for bed. As she did, the lightning flashed again and the rainfall became heavier.

"_Sakuya_!"

"You called, mistress?" Sakuya said from right next to her, in a dark blue nightdress.

Remilia breathed in a bit heavily, brushing her light blue hair out of her eyes and smoothing her pink nightgown. She was no longer surprised when Sakuya manipulated time to respond to her calls in not even one second. When the thunder boomed, Remilia, to her own shock, actually leaped out of bed and threw her arms around Sakuya.

"..." Sakuya hid her surprise well, though there was a slight widening of the eyes as Remilia did this. Slowly, the maid wrapped her arms around her mistress's much smaller form, holding her gently and sitting back down on the bed. "Mistress, it will pass soon..."

Remilia, for her part, clung to Sakuya, burying her face in her chest. It didn't matter right now that Sakuya was Human and probably much younger than her, that Sakuya was her maidservant. She hated thunderstorms, and Sakuya was the one person she could trust with anything personal. Had Remilia even allowed herself to think of the concept, Sakuya would most likely be her one true friend - barring Patchouli, of course.

How strange. To be trusting the one person that had come the closest to killing her.

* * *

Everything seemed to be set. She and Flandre had managed to escape from the Hunters that had been chasing them for several months now by falling into this... gap? She wasn't sure what it was, but whatever it had been, it had saved the now 108-year-old Vampire and her 103-year-old baby sister (who, technically, wasn't a baby anymore, but Flandre will always be Remilia's baby sister even if the other blew things up on a daily basis). Flandre was safe in the old mansion that she had found in this strange country. Though, with the large lake in the way to more land, she hadn't had much choice. Being a Vampire, she couldn't cross water.

It was now late at night, and with Flandre asleep in the basement of the mansion, the safest place in the mansion, Remilia felt like taking a walk. Nearly 100 years may have gone by, but it was still... lonely. She was still thinking about the fact that she would never see her parents again, that Flandre would probably always stay at the mental age of five, that the only reason she and Flandre were still alive was how that elderly gentleman (Vladimir, was his name) she had befriended had turned out to be a Vampire himself.

Remilia Scarlet picked at the sleeve of her now-pink dress, stained with the blood of her victims. Human blood was something she hadn't had a taste for at first, but it was necessary, and soon she had started enjoying it. Probably a good thing, as the drinking of human blood was necessary for survival...

Night walks were very pleasant, Remilia mused, looking up at the sky. Of course, she couldn't go anywhere unless it was night or she carried her parasol during the daytime. The weather needed to be clear, too. She didn't want to risk getting caught in the rain and suffering burns. Besides, it was impossible to get such a magnificent view of the full moon in the sun.

But still. She wished that she had someone to enjoy these walks with. Flandre was forever stuck at that mental age, never learning to appreciate beauty or have much patience. Someone older would be preferable, someone that wouldn't look away in disgust or terror upon learning what she was.

A slight rustling of leaves was all that warned her before a something silver and sharp shot past her, slicing the sleeve of her left arm and striking against a tree. "...!" Remilia whirled around, instantly on guard. "Who's there?"

"So we meet, Vampire," the voice of a young woman. And suddenly, the knife was gone, and Remilia was facing what appeared to be a Human female, who appeared to be about twenty-years-old or so. She was wearing a blue and green dress, with a silver design on it. She had equally silvery-white hair, with two braids hanging down near the front of her face, and grey eyes. Three gleaming knives were held in her right hand.

"Who are you?" Remilia demanded, holding a defensive position.

"I am Matoki Yagokoro, the demon hunter. And your name, Vampire?"

"Remilia Scarlet."

"Remilia Scarlet, in the name of my younger sister, I will stop your dark deeds."

Remilia still wasn't sure how she had managed to escape with her life, but she could only suppose that it had been fate.

* * *

The relatively young Vampire clutched her arm that had been stabbed with a silver knife that had luckily missed her heart, her black wings fluttering weakly. She had been surprised at the intensity and skill of this hunter; none of the others had come so close to even injuring her, let alone nearly killing her... even with the skills that Vladimir had taught her, it had taken nearly everything she had had to stay alive.

Even now, she was not feeling very well... If she was feeling this way then the Hunter must be feeling a lot worse...

Remilia crawled over to the unconscious silver-haired woman, Matoki, and checked her over. She was covered in scratches and bruises. For a few long moments, the young Vampire sat there, wondering what to do. Matoki was definitely no Youkai or Beast, which meant that she had to be Human. Yet Remilia did not have that urge to drink her blood. Sure, she could easily take this woman out while the other was unconscious... but...

Battling Matoki had been invigorating; she hadn't had a workout like this in years. It would be a shame to let such a powerful opponent die like this. She would wait. She would let Matoki heal, and then the two would fight again, perhaps to the death this time.

She also had to admit that she felt sorry for her. Matoki had mentioned that she had a younger sister. For a few minutes, Remilia closed her eyes and saw Flandre. What if this Human had a sister just like Flandre, a sister that respected and loved her older sister? She imagined the younger sister, her mind using Flandre as the substitute, wondering why her sister suddenly stopped visiting her-

"Ugh..." The Vampire was jerked out of her thoughts as the woman groaned and opened her eyes, looking rather puzzled. She sat up, one hand on her head in confusion, and looked straight at Remilia. "Wh-what happened...?"

"You don't remember?"

"N-No... I don't remember anything... Who are you?"

For some reason, Remilia felt compelled to answer her with the truth, even though she could have sworn she had answered the question earlier. "I'm Remilia Scarlet, a Vampire..."

Matoki didn't attempt to run away upon hearing this, or even start throwing knives at her again with her time-manipulation abilities. "O-Oh... Er... Wh-who am _I_? Oww..."

The blue-haired Vampire paused, before placing her hand on the other's forehead head. "You don't remember?" She was so warm...

"No, I"m sorry... Do you know me...?" Matoki sat up, wincing again, but she took Remilia's hand and held it.

Remilia hesitated. Part of her wanted to tell the truth. That she was Matoki Yagokoro, a demon hunter, and that ten minutes ago, the two of them had been trying to kill each other. And yet...

She was lonely.

It came as a shock to her, but she was lonely. Nobody lived in the house except for her and her sister, and Flandre was slightly insane from everything that had happened that even Remilia was afraid to allow her sister to go anywhere outside of the basement. Even if Remilia went out, most other creatures, even Youkai, avoided her due to what she was. Vampires were renowned for being some of the most powerful predators in Gensokyo. As a result, very few wished to associate with her, much less become familial.

And here was someone, that didn't seem phased by the idea that Remilia was a Vampire. Most likely, she didn't even understand that she was supposed to fight or flee upon seeing one. Remilia had longed to meet a person that saw her as a _person_ and not a mere Vampire.

But the silver-haired woman was still looking at her as Remilia finally opened her mouth, and answered the question, sealing fate with four words.

"Sakuya. You're Sakuya Izayoi."

* * *

Sakuya had adapted quickly to life in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, as Remilia had taken to calling the building. With her time manipulation abilities, all of the chores were completed within seconds, leaving the fairies hired to do nothing but eat, sleep, and wash their own uniforms. Over time, Remilia hired a Youkai named Meiling Hong to be the gatekeeper, and befriended a Natural Magician named Patchouli. As good a friend Patchouli was, she could not do any rigorous activity due to her anemia and book-loving skills.

As the years passed, Remilia lost track of time. She tried to place a scarlet mist all over Gensokyo so that she could head outside during the daytime, but was stopped by the Shrine Maiden, Reimu. And according to both Patchouli and Sakuya, while she had been away at Reimu's shrine, Flandre broke free from the basement, only to play with and _actually not kill_ a witch named Marisa. In fact, the two seemed to develop a bit of a friendship with each other...

One year, when spring failed to come, Remilia was worried about what the long winter would do for their food supply, so Sakuya went out, leaving only a note as to where she was going, and accompanied Reimu and Marisa to discover what the cause was. When spring came, and Sakuya returned to the mention, Remilia did scold her for leaving so suddenly, but then, when Sakuya was not watching, sobbed with relief that the other came back safely.

Finally, it was this one incident that really made Remilia think. The night when Sakuya pushed her time-manipulation powers, with help from the Youkai Yukari, the half-ghost Youmu, and the puppeteer Alice, to freeze the night due to the unnatural moon in the sky.

* * *

"Defeating Tewi, Resien, and Eirin, and coming so far..." Kaguya seemed to smile. "It would be unfair if you weren't hurt a bit. At least Eirin will now be able to distract those four that had been chasing me... all I have to do now is defeat you four."

Remilia seemed very smug, her wings barely moving as she hovered beside Sakuya, the moon in full view. "Too bad that I'm invincible on the night of the full moon."

"Really? I didn't know that..." Sakuya glanced at the Vampire, before her eyes fixated on the moon. "Is that the full moon, mistress...?"

"I said it because I knew," Remilia said, not taking her eyes off of Kaguya. There was no telling what the other would pull, even in a spellcard battle. "And yes, Sakuya, it is."

"The true power of the moon has been revived in this moment," the Lunar Princess said. "The pure moon throws its pale illumination upon the pure earth... The light is a memory of an ancient time, forgotten by even the moon races."

Marisa seemed to close her eyes for a few seconds, taking her hands off of her broomstick and trying to absorb a few moon rays, watching the true moon as she opened her eyes. "Whoa, so these are full-moon beams... I can't see them, but I sure can feel them."

With an amused smile, Kaguya watched the four of them. "This is the true full moon. I wonder when this moon vanished from the Earth, and lost the power to drive the Humans insane...?"

Alice seemed to pale at those words, one of her Dolls suddenly stopping its hovering motion around her and simply floating listlessly. "This moon... it would cause ordinary people to go insane in a matter of minutes... no, seconds!" Out of the group of four, the Youkai Magician puppeteer seemed to be the one with the most knowledge about Gensokyo, having been born and brought up there, and she flew in front of Marisa, blocking her view of the moon. "Marisa, are you okay?"

"Bwah?" Marisa seemed to blink at the sudden appearance of Alice in her vision. "Eh, yeah, doesn't matter if I stare at it, I was already insane to begin with." Remilia coughed. Anyone that Flandre liked that constantly came back to play with her was _definitely_ insane from this Vampire's point of view.

But then another, more important thought wedged itself in her mind. According to Kaguya, and her own knowledge from Vladimir, while Vampires, Youkai, and even Beasts (or, as a matter of fact, just about _any_ species) could watch the true full moon without any adverse effects. That is, any species, except Humans, who would go insane within seconds of watching-

Had Remilia's heart still been beating, it would have stopped. As it was, she began to hyperventilate.

"_Sakuya!_" She nearly cried in panic, upon noticing that her maid was still staring at the moon as she had been several minutes ago. "_Watch out! Do not gaze at the moon!_"

The exiled Lunarian princess laughed. "Yes, this true full moon will drive mad any Human who looks directly at it. I'm afraid your friend will go insane if she hasn't, already."

Sakuya looked puzzled, however. She finally tore her eyes away from the moon, glancing back at Remilia. "I seem fine, though...?"

The Vampire's breaths slowed, calming upon realizing that the other was still perfectly fine. She gave a weak, but victorious grin to Kaguya. "...Sakuya would be okay. She's very well-disciplined, and very intelligent." Remilia paused. "But, even without Sakuya, I'm still invincible. I don't need her powers now." That statement was more to hide that she had been truly concerned for the other's well-being than any cruelty.

"What was that term the Outsiders use? Oh yeah. Burned!" Marisa muttered from beside them. Alice clocked her on the head.

"How cruel, mistress..." Sakuya didn't seem too amused, but did not complain further outside of shooting a glare at Marisa. "I would help you in any situation. Please rely on me..."

Kaguya now seemed to stare at Sakuya for a few long moments. "The moon gave many powers to beings of the earth. Many of them, such as magic, were originally the moon's power. Your friend, on the other hand... she has a different type of magic, yet is clearly dependent on the moon. Isn't that so, Ms. Vampire?"

"So Sakuya's not quite a perfect little Human," Alice said. "So what? Some of the best ones are not."

"Hey!" Marisa protested. "I'm Human!"

"Of course I know that, but you're not even close to being a perfect one."

"Why you...!"

"That was a compliment, Marisa."

"It sure didn't sound like one!"

"Your friend, Ms. Vampire... her magic seems to be more similar to mine and Eirin's, than anything else," Kaguya mused, completely ignoring Alice and Marisa arguing. "Interesting."

"Hmph." Remilia crossed her arms, appearing unamused by what was being said, but even then, she saw Sakuya turn her head to look at the moon again, a flicker of something passing through her eyes as she gazed at it...

* * *

Remilia was jerked out of her memories as another clap of thunder rang across the sky. "...Sakuya?"

"Yes mistress?" Sakuya glanced down, unaware of the thoughts that had been crossing the Vampire's head.

"..." Remilia seemed very embarrassed at first, before speaking up. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

"Is that an order, mistress?" the maidservant asked softly.

The young vampire hesitated. "No. That was a request."

"I'll stay with you tonight."

At those words, Remilia seemed to smile with relief, pulling out of Sakuya's embrace and dropping down on the bed. Sakuya crawled in next to her, settling down comfortably in the bed. The young Vampire scooted over, burying her face against the temporal manipulator once again. The other was always so warm. Sakuya, for her part, held Remilia close to her, stroking her hair in an attempt to soothe her.

_She's like mother..._ The thought popped up, unbidden. Remilia had not seen her mother since she had been ten years old, the same age she had been when she became a Vampire. Though she had aged in years, her physical and mental age had, for the most part, remained the same.

The thought of Sakuya being her mother was ridiculous. Obviously, Remilia was older than her. Her current age was about 508 years if she remembered correctly. No Human could live that long. Their lifespan was maybe about fifty years, maybe seventy years if they were particularly healthy.

Wait.

Hadn't she met Sakuya, then Matoki, about 400 years ago?

Remilia's eyes flew open, staring at Sakuya. Sakuya's light-gray fell around her, her eyes closed and her breathing even and steady. No. She had to be Human. Sakuya must have... she must have used her time manipulation powers to slow or stop time around her body... However, those Lunarians seemed to recognize her, that princess Kaguya Houraisan, and that other girl, Eirin Yagokoro...

...Eirin Yagokoro?

_"I am Matoki Yagokoro, the demon hunter. And your name, Vampire?"_

_"Remilia Scarlet, in the name of my younger sister, I will stop your dark deeds."_

It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. Could Sakuya actually...

Remilia closed her eyes, not dislodging herself from the other's grip. It was time to pay Eirin a visit.


	3. Chapter 3: Alice

Inside the thick, bamboo forest whose branches seem to reach up towards the moon itself, two relatively small figures traversed through it, brushing past bamboo stalks and squinting to be able to see in the pitch blackness of the forest.

Alice Margatroid yawned, blearily rubbing one of her eyes as she glanced at her doll Shanghai and had it check the time by flying to the top of the forest. Judging from the position of the moon and stars in the sky for this time of year, it was about 3:00 AM in the morning.

"Hurry, the sooner we get there, the better!" Remilia said, not seeming exhausted at all.

The Youkai Magician yawned once again, stumbling forward and being held up by Shanghai as she stopped at an intersection in the poorly lit path. As Remilia stopped behind her, Alice looked around, trying to remember the direction it was in, the Youkai remembering the conversation that the two had had earlier.

* * *

At the pounding on the door, Alice groaned, stumbling out of bed and heading towards the door, tripping over a few of her books. A few of her dolls scuttled out of her way as she made her way over with a frown. Only person would ever call upon her this late at night.

"Marisa, you'd better not have blown up-" Alice stopped, blinking as she stared at Remilia Scarlet. The Vampire was not one to normally have social calls. What was she doing here? "Can I help you?"

"We will be heading to Eientei."

"...Huh...?"

Remilia didn't give the puppeteer a chance to respond before grabbing her arm and pulling her out the door. For someone that looked as if she was only ten years old, the Vampire was very strong indeed, pulling Alice along the path without any effort.

"Why me...?"

At this, Remilia actually stopped and glanced at her, seeming irritated at first, but then saying something. "I needed someone that I could work with to accompany me."

"Your staff...?"

"Meiling needs to guard the mansion and has a short attention span, Patchouli is anemic and asthmatic and prefers to be reading her books, and taking Sakuya would defeat the purpose of this journey unless I know for sure."

"The other girls that fought with us against the Lunarians...?" Alice nearly hit a tree, barely missing it as Remilia swerved and took them around it.

"The ghost and the half-ghost returned to the Netherworld, the Youkai needs to guard the border and follows her own agenda, the witch is just as insane as Flandre, by her own admission no less, and the Shrine Maiden has more important matters to be dealing with. Besides, the last two are humans, and we would be constantly attacked for their mere presence." Remilia paused in her ranting. "There are tales in the Human Village of a Human girl that disappeared nearly eight years ago after entering the forest... a pity, or I might have taken Reimu or Marisa with me. And if I have heard correctly, you visit Eientei on a regular basis for medicine."

Even at this time of night, when not even most creatures of the night were out, Alice was still able to recognize that there was no way she would be able to get out of this. So she just nodded and shuffled along after her, Shanghai following her.

* * *

The Magician had never been so happy to see Eientei in her life. Upon finally reaching the place where Eirin lived, she practically stumbled towards the wooden house, leaning against it and resting her head against it. Remilia simply sighed, and went to knock on the door, but it opened before she could.

Eirin appeared a bit tired herself, but her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the Vampire and the exhausted Magician. "Hello there," she said. "Do you need something?" She gravitated towards Alice, though, wrapping an arm around the Youkai's shoulders and letting her lean against her. "Come inside, both of you. Alice, dear, there is a couch inside you can rest on, you look terrible."

Alice yawned, laying her head on Eirin's shoulder as the three headed inside. She had been here several times to pick up medicines for both herself and Marisa, because, as strong a witch as Marisa was, there were too many things that ate Humans in the forest and it was very easy to get lost. Each and every time, Marisa would protest, only for Alice to remind her what happened the last time she had ended up alone in the forest - namely, being chased for several kilometers by Reimu, Yukari, Yuyuko, and Youmu, defending herself from their attacks.

"What brings you here, this late at night?" Eirin said, helping Alice sit on the couch. The exhausted girl dropped down, curling up with her eyes closed in an attempt to get a few minutes of sleep. She no longer saw the pacing Remilia, who was studying Eirin with a rather interesting expression in her eyes.

"I have a few questions to ask of you," Remilia said. Alice, though she wished nothing more than to go to sleep, perked up with interest. It had to be something huge for Remilia to grab a Youkai that she barely knew just to guide her into the bamboo forest at 3 AM in the morning.

"As I for you," Eirin studied the relatively young Vampire, eyes narrowing a bit. "But go on. I will listen."

At those words, Remilia made an amused sound, prompting Alice to open one eye to watch the two of them. Eirin was looking very serious and rather pale for the normally composed nurse, and Remilia had this puzzled but interested smile on her face. Now that Alice thought about it, though, both mannerisms were present in that other Human girl she had seen - what was her name, Sakuya?

"You have questions?" Remilia asked.

"What did you do to her in the past several years?" Eirin replied. There was an unusually cold tone in Eirin's voice that Alice had never heard before, not even when they had found her during the night when the moon had become strange.

"Who do you mean by 'her'?" the Vampire chuckled. "Gensokyo's non-human population is over 98% female, Eirin Yagokoro. You will have to be more specific than that."

"You know perfectly well who I'm talking about."

Feeling Shanghai next to her, Alice shifted on the couch, keeping her eyes closed and hugging the doll to her. She mentally instructed Shanghai to watch both Remilia and Eirin, attempting to see the world through her doll's eyes. The Vampire and the Lunarian were still facing each other, though this time, Remilia looked quite... smug? Really, seeing such a smug expression on a Vampire with the appearance of a child was frightening. Eirin still looked serious and calm, but there was a definite tenseness in her body, as if she was upset but hiding it the best as she could.

"No, I don't. Tell me, is it a member of my household?"

"My. Sister."

Eirin had a sister, that was connected to Remilia? Still Alice kept her eyes closed and her body still, letting Shanghai do the seeing for her. It was not hard to fake sleep, as she was still exhausted.

"Which sister would this be?" Remilia asked, examining her fingers with a bored expression.

"Matoki!" Eirin said in a hushed shout, glancing quickly towards where Alice was 'sleeping'. The puppeteer had never heard the name before in her life. Yet Remilia seemed to be excited upon hearing this. Whether it was in a good way, or in a bad way, Alice was unable to tell.

"So, Matoki Yagokoro is your sister!" the young Vampire said, locking her fingers together.

Who was Matoki Yagokoro?

Eirin's face seemed to go whiter than her hair at those words. "What did you do to her? I know I saw her that night when you, Alice, and the others fought me. She was with your group."

"Nothing, I simply fought her 400 years ago," Remilia replied calmly. "She's very smart."

At that moment, however, Alice was unable to stop herself from letting out an exhausted yawn, turning over on the couch so that she was facing the wall. Shanghai squirmed a bit in her arms but didn't pull away, blinking as it stared over at Remilia and Eirin before drooping down over the puppeteer's arm, eyes as tired as Alice felt.

"..." Eirin had her mouth open as if she was going to say something, but upon Alice shifting, she closed it. "...This is not the place. I don't know about you-" That statement seemed to be directly pointed at Remilia and her Vampire. "-but most people are not awake at this time of night." Alice could believe that. That one night when she and the others had crafted that charm to keep the night from breaking into day had been one of the only nights that she had been awake at those hours. Though she had managed to find enough power to keep her going for the entire night, she had been very exhausted. Marisa had had to carry her back home on her broom, as she had been too tired to continue flying.

"It doesn't matter," Remilia sounded cheerful. "I got what I came here for." The Vampire then walked over to Alice, shaking her. "We're going now." Alice groaned. She had just been about to fall asleep.

"Leave the poor girl alone," Eirin said. "She is allowed to stay here until daybreak."

"How will I find my way out, then?"

"I will have a few of the rabbits guide you out," Eirin was sounding more impatient. "But we will be speaking again, Miss Vampire."

A few Earth rabbits walked into the room, clearly nervous as they smoothed their dresses down. Eirin ruffled their hair affectionately, explaining to them they must show Remilia out, and Alice, and by extension Shanghai, was not aware of anything any longer as they fell asleep.

* * *

"Alice dear?"

Alice blinked, light reaching her eyes as she woke up on the couch. She looked down in surprise to find Shanghai in her arms, and that she was not at either her house or Marisa's. Where was she?

"Alice? Are you awake?" Finally, the Magician focused on the blue, red, and white figure standing above her. A hand was on her shoulder. "Oh, you are!"

"Where's... Remilia?" Alice asked, sitting up.

"She left early this morning," Eirin replied, pausing. "How much did you hear?"

Alice seemed to frown, looking down at Shanghai in her arms. Should she lie, or tell the truth? If she told the truth, Eirin might become upset with her for spying on their conversation. One the other hand, if she lied and if Eirin found out, the consequences might be even worse. Finally, the Magician opted to just tell her the truth. "Quite a bit..."

"..." Eirin seemed to watch the girl. "Well, it can't be helped. We were quite loud." Then her voice became cheerful and more open. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes... oh! What time is it?"

"Around four in the afternoon."

"-! I need to return!" She had a previous appointment to keep with Marisa later.

"Ah, before you go!" Eirin called after her as Alice ran for the door, but the girl paused as the Lunarian picked up a box of medicines and put it in her arms. "Since you were here, I took the liberty of finishing yours and Marisa's orders early this morning."

"O-Oh, thank you! Goodbye!" And with those words, Alice was out the door. The forest was not as frightening in the daytime as it was at nighttime and less creatures milled about in there, so the Youkai quickly ran back through the forest, heading out of it and entering the Forest of Magic where she lived.

Shanghai struggled to keep up with her as Alice all but ran into her house, her dolls on the floor scattering to give her room. "Huff... huff..." She'd made it, before Marisa could arrive! Carefully, she deposited the box of medicines on the table, separating hers and Marisa's orders so that she could give them to the other before heading to freshen up.

Just as Alice dropped down in a chair, there was a loud crashing sound from outside. "Marisa?" Did she crash her broom into a tree again? That girl never changed. The door then opened, and a rather dusty-looking Marisa stared back at her. "What happened to you?"

"Well..." the Human witch said, a sheepish look on her face. "That's a long story."

Alice sighed. It was going to be a long day.


End file.
